Low-Code Development: Training and Competence of Citizen Developers

The speed of development of technology, the effect of Industry 4.0, and the acceleration in digital transformation with the Covid-19 epidemic we have experienced in the past years prove the views of Forbes.

In the face of the acceleration in digital transformation and the transformation in business areas, future organizations need to turn to current approaches rather than traditional approaches in software development processes.

The software developer gap, which exists especially in the current period and is expected to increase in the future in the light of the data, once again emphasizes the importance of current approaches.

On the other hand, the increase in the development time of the MVP or the final product and the subsequent maintenance costs accelerate the search for alternatives.

In this context, the development method with Low-Code platforms comes to the fore as a current approach.

In a basic definition, Low-Code is defined as software development solutions that provide a fast and easy development process with low code/less code. With Low-Code development platforms, web/mobile (suitable for Android and iOS operating systems) applications, IOT, RPA, business process, workflow automation, and artificial intelligence applications can be developed. With the use of Low-Code platforms, application development processes are accelerated, production efficiency is increased, maintenance processes and workloads are reduced and costs are reduced.

In line with the data provided by Gartner; It is predicted that more than 70% of new applications developed by organizations will use No-Code and Low-Code technologies.

With this foresight, due to minimum code knowledge and usage in Low-Code development processes, individuals who do not have a software basis and who are called “citizen developers” will be able to be recruited as a workforce. Citizen developers can perform fundamental analysis of a business process and/or applications, focus on innovation and problem-solving, and conduct development processes quickly through low-code or no-code platforms.

According to other data presented by Gartner, it is predicted that the number of citizen developers (Citizen Developers) in organizations will be four times more than the number of professional software developers in the coming period. In light of the foresight presented, organizations have the potential to minimize the labor gap with the employment resource provided by citizen developers. In this context, organizations have the opportunity to provide citizen developers from outside the institution or from different departments within the institution through Low-Code platforms. However, in line with the report presented by Barcelona Digital Talent, it is seen that institutions have reached a consensus on the lack of educated and talented citizen developers.

At this point, “how do we create educated and talented citizen developers?” the question arises.

There are various answers to this question.

1. Academy infrastructures of Low -Code Platforms :

A planned and systematic academy infrastructure suitable for the needs of citizen developers plays an important role in the competence of citizen developers. Citizen developers will be able to manage learning processes at their pace, without being dependent on time and space, especially with the asynchronous content of the academy.

Learning experiences with Academy content will act as a catalyst in accelerating the adoption process of institutions toward Low-Code development. Therefore, the transition of institutions in the business world to develop processes with low-code platforms will accelerate, and the difficulties in accessing trained and talented personnel will decrease.

2. Online Learning Communities:

One of the most important variables in citizen developer education is undoubtedly learning communities. Interaction is one of the most basic components that form the basis of learning. Through learning communities, it is possible to create an interaction network between developers.

3. Workshops:

Workshops organized privately by companies in the business world, higher education institutions continuing their education activities and foundations operating in the field of civil society or open to everyone will provide the experiential learning process in citizen developer education. Workshops, especially for a situation of need or a problem in daily life, will increase the number of educated and talented citizen developers.

4. Certificate Programs:

Certificate programs have an important place in the competence and training of citizen developers. Learning activities carried out within the scope of a certain program and concluded with certification increase the motivation of individuals with the effect of gamification. In addition, having a document proving that individuals have completed the learning process at the end of the day will strengthen the resume of citizen developers. In particular, verifiable certificates will be a reference for institutions employing citizen developers.

The most important variable in increasing the effectiveness of all these answers is a systematic and planned instructional design that focuses on the characteristics and needs of citizen developers and institutions. At this point, the instructional design process, learning activities, and learning content developed by Kuika Academy are effective resources for talented and educated citizen developers. You can check out Kuika Academy by visiting.

Contact us for more information about Kuika Academy.